Unalaska, AK – After erupting for over a month this summer, Okmok has calmed down enough for volcanologists to explore the changes within the 5-mile wide caldera. "What used to be a lush green terrace,: said volcanologist Tina Neal, "is now just a grey brown wasteland of ash and mud and sand. There isn't anything green inside the caldera."

Neal studied the new volcanic formations earlier this month to see how the eruptions changed the area. Some new features include a dozen or more smaller craters filled with water and one new large lake.

"Volcanologically what's so fascinating is there's a completely new ash cone that's been built up on the north side of cone B. It's perhaps as high as 800 feet in vertical elevation," she said. "So it represents a huge accumulation of debris that erupted out of the ground that happened between July 12 and August 19."

Neal says the eruption involved a lot of water.

"We know that the caldera floor has always been a kind of soupy place with very shallow ground water so we think that as the magma was reaching the surface, water just kept flushing into the ground, creating massive explosions that pulverized the erupting lava so that it wasn't able to form any contiguous lava flows. It just got blown to bits. Very fine bits that make up this muddy ashy debris."

Though ash covered the island and the local cattle ranch during the 38 day eruption, Neal says the cows seem to be doing fine.

"They're running around. The tundra is green. Rancher Lonnie [Kennedy] thinks there may not be as much grass feed this winter but they don't seem to be showing any ill effects right now. Nor do the reindeer running around."

The only current danger from the volcano involves the new ash dams that are blocking the creek that flows from the caldera. They could break and cause flooding.